Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme previously hosted by the lovely folks @ The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is top ten:
Underappreciated Books
I’ve already covered this topic before, in various iterations, but I always love recommending (ahem, pushing) my favourite underappreciated books to people. 😉
For this list, I’m going to avoid anything I’ve mentioned before and go with more recent finds that I think are deserving of way more love.
1. The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
This series is my everything. Honestly, I never expected to love this – it’s about sports for goodness sake! I’m about the least sporty person I know. Yet, I found myself caught up in every Exy (made-up sport for the book) game. Even better was the characters and their interactions. I love each and every one of those Foxes and I would fight anyone if they dared harm a hair on any of their heads! (Yes, I know they are all fictional, but I don’t care!) On a shallow note – how great is the new cover for the audio-book version?
2. When Everything Is Blue by Laura Lascarso
I was so pleasantly surprised by just how much I loved this book! I loved the main character and his (eventual) love interest. The story was simple but oh so effective. A perfect young adult book, if I do say so! Really, I cannot recommend this book enough.
3. A Boy Worth Knowing by Jennifer Cosgrove
This book was so sweet guys, I can’t even… The story was very different and the characters were beyond adorable. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a truly feel-good ghost story (there’s a pairing I never thought I would say!)
4. Stag’s Run by by Zaya Feli
I adored this book and the rest of the books in this trilogy so much. It’s hard to believe this was the author’s debut as it is a very strong and nuanced tale. Ren and Anik played off each other so well. Even though they do not start off on the right foot at all, you can see the beginnings of a strong relationship forming even in the first book. They seem to bring out the best in each other. A very underappreciated fantasy trilogy.
5. A Light Amongst Shadows by Kelley York & Rowan Altwood
Definitely a less happy ghost story (the opposite of ‘A Boy Worth Knowing’ really) this book is spooky in all the right places. The characters are very endearing and I was thoroughly swept up in this darker tale of ghostly goings-on. I’ve always found Kelley York to be criminally underappreciated and this co-written book with Rowan Altwood definitely deserves more love.
6. Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen
This book is like being punched in the gut. Repeatedly. It is such a hard-hitting novel about loss and grief but also second chances. It is definitely a book that deserves to be more well-known. Not an easy read but is very much a worthwhile one.
7. Champion of the Scarlet Wolf by Ginn Hale
I’ve (loudly) declared my love and devotion to ‘Lord of the White Hell’ by Ginn Hale so it’s only fitting that the follow-up ‘Champion of the Scarlet Wolf’ finds a place on this list! It’s a fantastic story, almost as good as the first one. When I first heard that this book would switch to Elezar’s point of view, I had my doubts but they were totally unfounded.
8. Trick by Natalia Jaster
This book is deserving of so much love it is practically criminal that it is not more well-known. I read it this year and was blown away by the story and the characters. It reminded me a little of Morgan Rhodes’ ‘Falling Kingdoms’ series but in lots of ways it is a completely different animal. I would strongly encourage everyone to check it out!
9. Vivaldi in the Dark by Matthew J. Metzger
This is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of clinical depression I’ve ever read. It is pretty dark and bleak at times but very powerful. I would really love it if more people discovered this book (and series). It’s not easy going but it is important.
10. Raised by Wolves: Brethren by W.A. Hoffman
This is kinda a cheat because I haven’t actually finished this book yet but I had to include it on this list. It’s dense and it is taking me awhile to get through it but I am loving every step of the way! So good! Plus pirates (okay, sorry I meant to say Privateers!) 😛
for more top ten tuesday posts, click the below link:
I have heard a lot of great things about The Foxhole Court. I’m not really into sports, but I think I’ll have to look into it one of these days. 🙂
I hate sports, but I’m curious about The Foxhole Court. A lot of the reviewers I trust love it.